Meet Hunter_GamingNL: The Person Behind Cross State Line RP
Behind every system, announcement, development decision, and long testing session at Cross State Line RP is a real person.
For the first article in our Meet the Team: Deep Dive series, we are introducing Hunter_GamingNL, better known outside the community as Dylan.
Dylan is the founder and lead developer of Cross State Line RP. However, CSLRP is only one part of his life. Outside the project, he works as a train driver for Eurostar, enjoys flight simulation, regularly flies on VATSIM, spends time in nature, and values being around his friends.
This is the story of how curiosity, self-teaching, and a personal challenge gradually became Cross State Line RP.
The Person Behind Hunter_GamingNL
Dylan is from the Netherlands and describes himself as passionate, driven, and always interested in learning something new.
Curiosity has always been an important part of who he is. He has long been interested in systems, how they work, and what happens behind the parts most people normally see.
That interest is not limited to computers.
His professional life is also built around responsibility, systems, procedures, and teamwork. As a train driver for Eurostar, his work requires concentration, communication, and the ability to take responsibility for decisions.
Outside work and CSLRP, Dylan enjoys going into nature and spending time with his friends. He also has a strong interest in aviation and can regularly be found using flight simulators and flying online through VATSIM.
Whether it involves railways, aviation, development, or server infrastructure, the common theme is an interest in understanding how complex systems operate.
Learning Through Curiosity
Dylan has never completed a formal course in coding.
Instead, he taught himself through research, testing, mistakes, experimentation, and repeatedly trying again when something did not work.
Unlike many developers, he did not begin with a small tutorial project or a basic test application.
Cross State Line RP was his first coding project.
The idea began in February 2025 as a challenge to himself. Dylan wanted to learn coding and understand more about how FiveM servers and their systems worked.
Rather than only reading about development, he decided to build something real.
That decision eventually grew into an entire community, complete with its own infrastructure, website, documentation, integrations, roleplay systems, departments, vehicles, uniforms, and development plans.
What started as a learning exercise quickly became something much larger.
The First Version of CSLRP
The first version of CSLRP taught Dylan a great deal, but it also exposed one of the biggest dangers of running a project like this: trying to do too much at once.
As the founder, Dylan wanted to improve everything.
There were always more systems to add, more scripts to configure, more problems to solve, and more ideas to develop. Every finished task immediately revealed several new possibilities.
Over time, that approach became difficult to maintain.
The greatest challenge was no longer only technical. It became a challenge of preventing the project from taking over every available hour and avoiding working himself into a burnout.
That experience became one of the main reasons the original server was stopped and why CSLRP is now being rebuilt with a different approach.
Stopping the server was not giving up on the project.
It was a decision to protect the people behind it and create the opportunity to rebuild the community on a healthier and stronger foundation.
Learning Not to Overcomplicate Everything
One of the biggest lessons Dylan learned from the earlier versions of CSLRP was that more complexity does not automatically create a better experience.
During the second version of the project, some ideas became unnecessarily complicated.
A system could appear simple to the developer who had spent hours creating and testing it, while still being confusing or overwhelming to a player encountering it for the first time.
That led to an important principle for the rebuild:
Do not overcomplicate things. Even when something feels simple to the developer, it may not feel simple to the player. Take the time that is needed.
CSLRP still aims to provide detailed and meaningful systems, but complexity must have a purpose.
A feature should create more roleplay, improve interaction, or make the world feel more connected. It should not exist simply because adding more buttons, steps, or restrictions makes something appear more advanced.
Finding the Balance
One of the most underestimated parts of developing a roleplay server is finding the correct balance between realism and accessible gameplay.
Too little realism can make actions feel meaningless.
Too much realism can turn roleplay into a collection of repetitive procedures that players must complete before they are allowed to enjoy themselves.
CSLRP is not intended to be completely arcade-focused, but it is also not attempting to reproduce every real-world process without compromise.
The aim is to find the point where realism creates stories instead of obstructing them.
This balance affects almost every part of development, including emergency services, the underground, vehicles, businesses, injuries, communications, law enforcement, and player progression.
It is rarely something that can be decided by one person alone.
Leadership as a Shared Project
Dylan may be the founder and the person ultimately responsible for CSLRP, but he does not see the project as something that belongs only to him.
To him, leadership means building something together.
He may hold the position of owner and lead developer, but the project is shaped by the entire team.
Ideas are discussed rather than automatically approved. Team members are encouraged to disagree, question decisions, and suggest different approaches.
Dylan also tries to involve the team as much as possible. His professional experience has reinforced the importance of communication, shared responsibility, and making sure important decisions are not made in isolation.
When deciding whether an idea should become part of CSLRP, he first discusses it with himself and then with the team.
Some ideas move into development.
Others are adjusted, delayed, or removed entirely.
The goal is not to add every possible feature. It is to select ideas that support the kind of community and roleplay experience CSLRP is trying to create.
Trust Within the Team
Trust is one of the most important parts of the CSLRP team.
Dylan believes that when someone is brought into the project, they should receive genuine trust rather than being treated as though they must constantly prove themselves.
He trusts the people he chooses to work with.
When something happens that he disagrees with, he addresses it directly. Problems are discussed instead of being allowed to grow quietly in the background.
This honesty works in both directions.
Dylan expects the team to challenge his ideas when necessary, and he values people who are willing to speak openly rather than simply agreeing with the founder.
The team that has formed around CSLRP is also the achievement he is most proud of.
Scripts can be replaced, systems can be rewritten, and technical plans can change. A team of people who genuinely trust one another is much harder to build.
The Importance of Community Feedback
The same approach applies to suggestions from the wider community.
Every suggestion and piece of feedback submitted to CSLRP is discussed by the team.
That does not mean every request can or will be implemented exactly as submitted. Some suggestions may conflict with existing systems, create technical problems, or move the project away from its intended direction.
However, every serious idea can become the beginning of a conversation.
The team looks at what the player is trying to achieve, whether the idea would improve roleplay, and how it could potentially be implemented.
Sometimes the final solution may be different from the original suggestion, but the community input can still influence the direction of development.
CSLRP is intended to be built both for and with its community.
A Rebuild Without Artificial Deadlines
One of the largest differences between the first version of CSLRP and the current rebuild is the absence of self-imposed deadlines.
Previously, deadlines could turn development into a race.
Once a date had been mentioned, there was pressure to continue working toward it—even when more time was needed or when the workload was becoming unhealthy.
That is not the approach being taken now.
The rebuilt CSLRP server will be ready when the team believes it is ready.
There is no artificial launch date forcing systems to be rushed, features to be released unfinished, or team members to sacrifice their wellbeing to meet a target they created themselves.
Progress will continue, but it will continue at a sustainable pace.
For Dylan, taking the required time is now part of producing a better result.
Working Through Technical Problems
Development does not always move forward smoothly.
There are times when a system refuses to work, an integration behaves unexpectedly, or a technical problem does not have an immediate solution.
When that happens, Dylan has learned not to force himself to continue indefinitely.
Sometimes the best decision is to take a break.
At other times, he moves to another part of the project and returns to the original problem later with a clearer mind.
Stepping away is not the same as giving up. It is often what makes the eventual solution possible.
This is another lesson carried forward from the earlier versions of CSLRP: a problem does not always need to be solved during the same development session in which it appeared.
The Reward of Testing
Of all the different parts of development, testing remains Dylan’s favourite.
Testing is the stage where an idea stops being a plan and becomes something that can actually be experienced.
It reveals whether a system feels natural, whether players can understand it, and whether all the individual pieces work together correctly.
The most rewarding moments are when something passes through testing and works exactly as he imagined it.
After hours of planning, coding, configuring, troubleshooting, and rebuilding, seeing a system finally behave correctly makes the work feel worthwhile.
That moment does not need to involve a huge feature.
Even a smaller system can be deeply satisfying when it finally works as intended.
What Success Means
Success does not only mean reaching a certain player count or becoming one of the largest FiveM communities.
For Dylan, completing the project would already be a success.
Building CSLRP into a finished and functioning server, after everything learned during its different versions, would represent the completion of the challenge that began in February 2025.
The second part of success is seeing people enjoy it.
If players spend time on the server, create stories, build friendships, and genuinely enjoy what the team has made, then the project has achieved its purpose.
The systems provide the foundation, but the players will create the moments that make the community memorable.
A Life Outside CSLRP
One thing Dylan hopes people understand is how much time and passion goes into the project.
CSLRP is not created by a full-time development studio. It is built alongside work, friendships, personal responsibilities, and everyday life.
There are days when development moves quickly and other periods when work or personal life must come first.
That does not mean the project has been forgotten.
It means there is a real person behind the username who must balance a demanding job, a social life, personal interests, rest, and the responsibility of managing a community.
Protecting that balance is important if CSLRP is going to remain a long-term project.
A Community Where Everyone Is Welcome
When players first join the rebuilt CSLRP community, Dylan wants them to feel welcome.
He wants people to know they can discuss ideas, ask questions, and share concerns without feeling that they are bothering the team.
That welcome is not limited to experienced roleplayers.
New players are just as welcome as people who have spent years within FiveM communities.
Everyone begins somewhere, and CSLRP should be a place where people can learn, improve, and become part of an evolving story.
Dylan’s message to anyone considering joining is clear:
Everyone is welcome. Whether you are an experienced roleplayer or are only just beginning, there is a place for you here. When you have an idea, share it with us. We will discuss it and see what may be possible.
Cross State Line RP began as one person’s challenge to learn coding.
It has since grown into a shared project supported by a trusted team and a community that continues to influence its direction.
The rebuilt server is still being developed, and the team is deliberately taking the time needed to build it properly.
Behind it all remains the same curiosity that started the project: the desire to understand how systems work, improve them, and turn an idea into something people can experience together.
— Cross State Line RP Management